Seneca, St. Paul, Synesius, and the Text of the Europa Ode

1 My text of Horace is quoted from Horatius, Opera, ed. F. Klingner, 3rd ed. (Leipzig 1959), translation from G. Williams, The Third Book ofHorace's Odes (Oxford 1969). Except as noted, other translations are my own. I offer no general interpretation of the Ode because I find myself in overall agreement with J.S. Clay's recent article ÇProvidus Auspex: Horace, Ode 3.27," CJ 88.2 [1992/1993] 167-77), in which she argues that Galatea is not an ex-lover of Horace, but a "young girl on the brink of womanhood," and her voyage "a metaphorical voyage into adulthood" (177). On Clay's interpretation, the warning in these lines is far from serious, and rather teasingly than threateningly vivid. However, I mention this only here since my main point is not affected by acceptance or rejection of her interpretation, except insofar as it makes the reference of 21-24 more vivid and thus more hyperbolic, which perhaps better fits a teasing warning than a serious curse.